Fluid valve



Aug. 3, 1948. KOEHLER 2,446,334

FLUID VALVE I I Filed Feb. 3, 1944 Han Zhmentor I I 32 GUSTAVE .1.KOEHLER His attorney Patented Aug. 3, 1948 UNITED STATES FLUID VALVEGustave J Koehler, Oakwood, Ohio Application February 3, 1944, SerialNo; 520,884

and isparticular-ly directed to a drain valve for use in connection withthe lubricating systems of internal combustion engines.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a drainvalve for use in connection with the lubricating systems of internalcombustion engines, said valve being of efficient design, compact form,and minimum weight, and economical to manufacture.

Another object is to provide a drain valve with a unique lifting oropening mechanism to facilitatethe draining of lubricating oil from thelubricat-ing system of an internal. combustion engine.

A further object is to, supply a drain valve with an opening devicewhich is offset with relatlon tozthevalve plug or member, so as toprovide maximum lift or opening movement of saidiplug and still retainthe overall compact design-or form of the valve as a whole.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention includescertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, theessential-elements of which are set forth in appended claims and apreferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described withreference to thedrawing which accompanies and forms a part-of thisspecification.

Int-said drawing:

Fig..1'is a front elevation of the drain valve of.:this-.-.invention,said valve being partially broken away and sectioned to better show theoffset construction of the valve opening or lifting mechanism.

Fig: 2 is avertical sectional view taken along line 2+2 :of Fig. 1,looking in the directionindicated by. the arrows.

Fig. 3;,is- .a top plan view of the valve plug member;

Fiend-is: aside elevation of the-valve plug member.

Description The present'invention is directed to a valve for useinconnection with the lubricating oilcirculating systems of internalcombustion engines, particularly such engines as those used foroperating aircraft and/or watercraft.

Engines of this type usually have a lubricating oil-reservoir from whichthe oil is circulated to the engine bearing surfaces, then back to thereservoinpsaid lubricating oilbeing continuously circulated as long asthe engine is operating;

The valve of this invention is arranged to be 2 Claims. (01. 251- 32 21inserted in such a circulating system as that de scribed above andprovides a quick and eiiicient means for thoroughly draining the entirelubricatingsystemin case it is necessary and/or desirable for theexamination or replacement of the lubricant.

Referring to the figures of the drawing, and particularly to Figs. land2, the complete valve is Y-shaped in contour and includes a main bodyportion l0 having branches II and I2 forming .a passageway or conduitfor connecting in the circulating system of an internal combustionengine to afford. continuous flow of lubricant entering one branch 'ofthe conduit and leaving by the other branch. The complete valve alsocomprises a depending auxiliary body portion l3; which is secured to themain body portion by suitable screws. The auxiliary body portion [3 hasan outlet branch .14, separated from the circulating branches H and 12by a poppet typelofvalve m'echanism,'the opening of which permits thedraining of the entire circulating system through the circulatingbranches II and I2 and theoutlet branch 14.

The valvev mechanism comprises a valve seat unit l5 (Figs. 1 and 2), theouter drum-shaped housing of which fits snugly in a counterbore in thedownward portion of themain body portion l0, said counterbore being inaxial alinement with the outlet passage M.- The valve seat unit I5 issecured in'the counter-bore by the auxiliary portion l3 and is sealed insaid counterbore against leakage by a suitable medium 29, such as aplastic ring or washer. In addition to the drum-shapedhousing, the seatunit It: comprises a seat washer lfi' formed of any suitable material,suchassynthetic rubber, and a retaining washer l'l" assembled in saidhousing and secured in place therein by'the curled or crimpedover upperedgeofsaid drum-shaped housing.

The valve seat unit' described above is similar in every respect to theone disclosed in the co-pending application of Gustave J. Koehler forLetters- Patent of the United States, Serial Number 453,629, filedAugust 5, 1942, now Patent No. 2,348,548 granted May 9, 1944', to whichreference maybe had for a complete description of said'valve seat unit.

The plastic valve seat member 16 has thereon an angular seat: surfaceadapted to be engaged by the external conical surface of an invertedmushroom-shaped valve head It (Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive) formed of.anysuitable material and having. secured'thereto a stem l9,', the circumference of which=is slidable" in a boring ina'web the auxiliary bodyportion l3, said lifting cam having integral therewith a hub portion 25,

which is secured by a pin 26 to said hollow shaft 24. A spacing collar21 free on the shaft 25, in cooperation with the lifting cam 23 and thehub portion 25, properly spaces said'cam between the side walls of theauxiliary body portion I3;

A fingerpiece or handle 28 (Fig. 2), secured by a pin 30 on theright-hand end of the shaft .24, is provided for operating said shaftand the lifting cam 23, said handle cooperating with a stop lug 31 onthe main body portion. iii when the valve is fully open, as shown inFig. 2, to terminate the opening movement of said cam and to retain saidvalve in fully opened position. The handle 28 has a projecting lug 32,which also cooperates with the projection iii to determine the closedposition of the lifting cam 23, said lug having therein ahole whichcoincides with a similar hole in the projection iii, to provide meansfor sealing and/or securing the lifting cam 23 in closed position ifdesired.

By referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the horizontal axis of theshaft 24 for the lifting cam 23 is offset in relation to the verticalaxis of the stem 19 for the head Hi. This and the vertical location ofthe shaft 2:! in relation to the head l8 permit the installation of alifting cam having a minimum of clearance when the valve is closed(Fig. 1) and providing maximum lifting movement for properly opening thevalve (Fig. 2). Thus a cam having the necessary valve lifting or openingcharacteristics may be installed in a minimum of space and withoutincreasing the overall size or weight of the complete valve. These arefeatures of major importance when the valve is to be used, for example,in the oil circulating system of an aircraft engine, where parts must beof minimum size and weight yet of maximum efficiency. My offsetconstruction provides a valve having maximum opening characteristics,which permits the draining of the lubricant from the circulating systemin a minimum of time-an important feature in the case of militaryaircraft.

Bolt holes 33 (Fig. 1) are provided in the main body portion Ii! forsecuring the complete valve to a suitable support.

The poppet type of drain valve disclosed herein has many advantages overother types of valves when used in the capacity described herein. Forexample, the poppet valve of this invention is fool-proof and positivein action, in that it has only two positions; namely, wide open and/orclosed. The present valve is designed to take advantage of the weight ofthe lubricating oil to assist in retaining it in closed position. Thevalve may be opened or closed quickly and easily and will remain ineither opened or closed position as long as desired. The offset featureof the horizontal axis of the opening cam :23, in relation to thevertical axis of the valv stem 19 and the vertical location of said camin relation to the head Hl, permits, the use of an opening cam having ahigh lift without increasing the overall size of the body portion of thevalve in order to house such a cam properly. The opening cam of highlift provides increased opening movement for the valve plug or head I8,thus facilitating the flow of lubricant being drained from the engine.

From the foregoing it is evident that my con tribution to the artprovides a device of the character described, possessing the featuresand advantages hereinbefore enumerated but, in addition to thesefeatures, said device is susceptible of modification in its form,proportions, details of construction, and arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the principle involved or sacrificing any of theadvantages thereof.

7 While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form orembodimen herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment invarious forms all coming within the scope of the claims which follow. i

What is claimed is:

1. In a-fluid valve of the class described, the combination of a mainbody portion; an auxiliary body portion removably connected to the mainbody portion, said auxiliary body portion having an outlet passageconnecting with a passage in the main body portion; a valve seat unitmounted in a counterbore in the main body portion and retained in saidcounterbore by the auxiliary body portion, said seat unit removable whenthe auxiliary body portion is disconnected from the main body portion; apoppet type valve member comprising an enlarged head cooperating withthe seat unit, and a stem portion secured to the head in concentricrelationship thereto, said stem shiftably supported in a bore in themain body portion in axial alinement with said seat unit, said valvemember removable when the seat unit is removed; yieldable means to urgethe head of the valve member into engagement with the seat unit; a shaftjournaled in the auxiliary body portion in offset relationship to theaxis of the valve member and at right angles thereto, said shaftextending through the outlet passage; an operating cam secured on theshaft and within an enlarged upper portion of the outlet passage, saidcam cooperating with the head of the valve member to open and close saidmember, said cam being constructed and arranged to have a minimum ofclearance from said head when the valve member is closed to insurecomplete closing of said valve member and to obtain maximum openingmovement of said valve member; a finger piece secured on one end of theshaft for operating it; and stop means on the main body portioncooperating with the finger piece when it is turned in one direction tolocate the cam at the position of its maximum opening movement withrespect to the valve member, so as to retain said valve member in openposition, said stop means also cooperating with said finger piece whenit is turned in the opposite direction to locate said cam'in anon-effective position in relation to the valve member to insure thatsaid valve member is in closed position.

2. In a fluid valve of the class described, said valve having a mainbody portion and an auxiliary body portion removably connected tosaidmain body portion, said auxiliary body portion having an' outlet passageconnecting with a passage in the main body portion and said mainbody rportion having a counterbore where the two passages meet, thecombination of a valve seat unit mounted in the counterbore in the mainbody portion and retained therein by the auxiliary body portion; apoppet type valve member comprising a head and. a stem secured to saidhead in concentric relationship thereto, said head cooperating with theseat until to control the flow of fluid and said stem being shiftablysupported in axial alinement with the seat unit in a bore in the mainbody portion, said valve member being removable when the seat unit isremoved; yieldable means to urge the head of the valve member intoengagement with the seat unit; a shaft journaled in the auxiliary bodyportion at right angles to and in ofiset relationship to the axis of thevalve member, said shaft extending through the outlet passage; a camsecured on the shaft and within an enlarged upper portion of the outletpassage, said cam cooperating with the head of the valve member to openand close said member, said cam being constructed and arranged to have aminimum of clearance from said head when the valve member is closed toinsure complete closing of said valve member and to obtain maximumopening movement of said valve member; a turning piece secured on oneend of the shaft and operable to turn the shaft ber is closed.

GUSTAVE J. KO'EI-ILER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gower Apr. 30, 1918 Wilber July 13, 1920Pearne Jan. 5, 1926 Wheaton May 13, 1930 Pierret Sept. 29, 1931 FehnJan. 5, 1932 Carlson Dec. 31, 1940 Number

